This is a tender, generous movie that likes its characters and presents them as real people, full of flaws and strengths.

The film creates a perfect balance between action and depth of basic needs, in the midst of an infertile atmosphere.

Ok... Let's be honest. It cannot be the best movie but is quite enjoyable. The movie has the potential to develop a great plot for future movies

One of the worst ways to make a cult movie is to set out to make a cult movie.

No one should pass on seeing any film with Beatrice Lillie. And I have to confess I was looking forward to seeing On Approval which is a Frederick Lonsdale comedy of manners which made it to Broadway after Drury Lane in London in the middle twenties. But while I saw a faithful adaption of the rather dated play, I did not see the madcap Beatrice Lillie in this at all.Bea and Googie Withers play a couple of wealthy widows who are wealthy because their late husbands presumably made some good fortunes in whatever business they were in. A couple of aristocrats with cash flow problems played by Clive Brook and Roland Culver are looking to marry and live in a lifestyle they're accustomed to. To go to work doesn't appeal to these two twits at all. But a nice marriage to money is a lot easier.The play itself is all right if your taste runs to these kind of stories. It tries to be Oscar Wilde like, without any of Wilde's wit. And Lillie gives a good performance. But I was sitting at my computer screen waiting for her to rollerskate across the floor or break into her double damask dinner napkins routine. You can find that in the Bing Crosby film Dr. Rhythm which Beatrice Lillie co-starred with him.In fact DEMAND that TCM show that film if you want to see what Bea Lillie was all about.

On Approval is an extremely amusing comedy of upper class British manners. It is wickedly malicious without being mean-spirited. The four leads play off each other flawlessly. Unfortunately, it seems to be one of those forgotten gems. The DVD release awhile back may have given it some new recognition. (And the DVD transfer is first rate.)Clive Brook, who also wrote and directed the film, is priceless as an aristocrat who finds it entirely reasonable to take his pleasures at the expense of others. He was a major star in the Thirties, but made only one more movie, The List of Adrian Messenger, after this one. At 76 he proved he still could hold his own against all comers, including George C. Scott.

Enjoyed seeing this film on 31 December 2003 on our Channel 31 TV station. Great to see Beatrice Lillie in an early movie performance. We mainly know her from Throughly Modern Millie. Also a pleasure to see a young Googie Withers performing in this film.

Thanks to Blackhawk Films and Image Entertainment for the release of this rarely seen British gem. It is refreshing to see a comedy based on language and characters. Only in Britain would Beatrice Lillie have been given a starring role (along with Googie Withers in a wise supporting role) in a film like this. Like George Cukor's THE WOMEN and Mankiewicz's ALL ABOUT EVE, this is a comedy you can return to time and again and pick up something new every time. Hats off to Clive Brook!